The Columbia Experience

The Snake is the largest tributary of the Columbia River and originates near the Continental divide in Yellowstone National Park, in northwest Wyoming. The Snake also holds an impressive list of hydro electric projects.

Ice Harbor Lock and Dam – Located at river mile 9.2
 Completed in 1962.Height: 100 feet (30 m), Length: 2,822 feet (860 m), Navigation lock: Single-lift 86 feet (26 m) wide, 675 feet long, Powerhouse: Three 90-megawatt units & Three 111-megawatt units. Purposes: Navigation & hydroelectricity. 

 

 

Lower Monumental Lock and Dam

Height: 100 feet (30 m), Length: 3,791 feet (1,155 m), Navigation lock: Single-lift, 86 feet (26 m) wide, 666 feet (203 m) long. Powerhouse: Six 135-megawatt units. Purposes: Navigation & hydroelectricity.

 

 

Little Goose Lock and Dam
Height: 98 feet
Length: 2,655 feet 
Navigation lock:86 feet wide, 668 feet long
Powerhouse; Six 135,000-kilowatt units. Purposes: Navigation & hydroelectricity.

 

 

Lower Granite Lock and Dam
Height: 100 feet (30 m), Length: 3,200 feet (975 m), Navigation lock: Single-lift 86 feet (26 m) wide, 674 feet (205 m) long. Powerhouse: Six 135-megawatt units. Purposes: Navigation & hydroelectricity.

 

 

Hells Canyon Dam
Completed in 1967. Height: 330 ft (100 m) Purpose: Hydroelectricity

 

 

Oxbow Dam – Located at river mile 273

Completed in 1961. Height: 175ft. The dam’s powerhouse contains four generating units with a total nameplate capacity of 190 megawatts. Purpose: Hydroelectricity

 

 

Brownlee Dam – Located at river mile 285

Purpose: Hydroelectricity

 

 

Swan Falls Dam – Located at river mile

Completed in 1901 the oldest hydroelectric dam on the Snake River. In the 1990s the original power plant was replaced with a new one. Height: 107 ft. Purpose: Hydroelectricity

 

 

 

C. J. Strike Dam

Total capacity:  82.8 Megawatts. Height: 115 feet. Its impoundment extends 36 miles up the Snake River and 12 miles up the Bruneau River. Purpose: Hydroelectricity

 

 

Bliss Dam

Completed in 1950. Bliss is a concrete gravity-type hydroelectric dam. Height: 70 feet. Located near Bliss, ID. Purpose: Hydroelectricity

 

 

Milner Dam

Completed in 1905. Height: 73 feet. Milner is a rockfill dam near  Burley, ID. Purposes: Irrigation & hydroelectricity

 

 

Minidoka Dam

Completed in: 1906. Minidoka  is an earthfill dam, the concrete power plant has nine generating units with a total capacity of 27.7 Megawatts. Purposes: Irrigation & hydroelectricity.

 

 

American Falls Dam (first structure)

American Falls Dam (second structure)

Completed in 1978. Height: 103.5 feet. The existing dam is the second structure to be called the American Falls Dam. Core samples taken in of the concrete of the original structure, had deteriorated so a second dam was built just downstream in 1978. Purpose: Irrigation.

 

Gem State Dam

Completed in 1988, Gem State is a concrete and rock-fill gravity dam. Height: 40 feet. Purposes: Irrigation & hydroelectricity.

 

 

Jackson Lake Dam

Completed in 1906, Jackson Lake is a concrete and earthfill dam located within Teton National Park. Purpose: Irrigation.

Click here for a list of the Dams on the Columbia River

Click Here for History of the Dams and other structures on the Columbia River